The Fintech Gender Gap

Fintech promises to spur financial inclusion and close the gender gap in access to financial services. Using novel survey data for 28 countries, this paper finds a large and ubiquitous ‘fintech gender gap’: while 29% of men use fintech products, only 21% of women do. Country characteristics and individual-level controls explain about a third of the gap. Gender differences in the willingness to use new financial technology or fintech entrants if they offer cheaper services account for half of the remaining gap. We conclude by suggesting explanations for the gender gap and challenges to fostering financial inclusion with new technology